And it's only been a week since she realized that North Korean engagement was also a waste of time? At this rate the WH will soon run out of intransigent thugs it can brazenly pretend are ripe for dialogue. If it wasn't for Russia, China, most of Latin America, and all of the Middle East except Israel, I'd almost be a little concerned:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States has no illusions that Iran will accept overtures to return to negotiations about its nuclear program and will not wait much longer for Tehran to respond. Both Clinton and national security adviser James Jones said in interviews aired Sunday that Washington has little choice but to deal with the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, regardless of U.S. feelings about charges he was re-elected in a fraudulent election and sympathy for the thousands who have protested the outcome.

Of course if Obama had followed Europe's lead and come out early in favor of the protesters - as opposed to gambling on the sustainability of the IRG's military coup - the US might have a little more wiggle room now. Ditto if he hadn't imperiously told Israel to lighten up on the Islamic regime. In fact, Washington might have much more than "little choice" if Obama had done anything except shield the regime since he took office. But spilled milk, huh?

At least sanctions have no chance of working now that Iran is ready to go nuclear on a whim:

Unless Iran responds positively to President Obama's offer of talks on its nuclear program by next month, it could face what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls "crippling sanctions."... But a number of Iran analysts are skeptical that new sanctions will break the stalemate... Effective sanctions, say Administration officials, require participation by Iran's key trading partners. That's a problem, since neither Russia nor China is convinced that there's an imminent danger of Iran producing nuclear weapons. Coalition of the willing-style sanctions of the sort envisaged by the congressional legislation may have limited impact because they're unlikely to be implemented by neighbors such as Turkey and Iraq. And the use of naval power to enforce a blockade could easily provoke a war that the U.S. military is eager to avoid. But even if "crippling sanctions" were somehow imposed, Tehran still might not back down.

Which is weird, because I was assured that Obama's "strong carrots and strong sticks" approach - focus groups, it turns out, love buzzwords like "strong" - was the super-sophisticated solution that was going to keep the mullahs from getting the Bomb.

References and previously after the jump...